Donning a floral headdress for our gorgeous photo shoot, Keisha Castle-Hughes suddenly feels very bridal. “I really want another wedding,” confesses the Oscar-nominated Game of Thrones actress, who wept tears of joy when she married Jonathan Morrison in a picturesque garden ceremony in 2013. Adjusting the flowers that adorn her crown, she smiles, “It’s been three years and it was just so much fun – the greatest party ever – but Jono says no. Maybe we can get married again for our fifth wedding anniversary. I’m pretty sure I can convince him. Let’s make it happen!”
With Keisha, 25, spending roughly half of their marriage in Hollywood and on overseas film sets while her husband remains home in Auckland, the Whale Rider star admits they’ve had their rocky moments. But with writer Jono, 28, now often in LA working on a US comedy show, Keisha says they’ve finally “found a nice balance” in their long-distance romance. She adds, “Like any relationship, we go through highs and lows, but we’ve found our rhythm. It used to be that when we were back in each other’s space after so long apart, there was an awkward transition, but that’s become a lot easier.”
Keisha has also instigated a new rule that she never goes five weeks without seeing her beloved daughter Felicity-Amore, eight – flying her to the States for family road trips and visits to Disneyland when she can’t get back to New Zealand.
The star grins, “I’ve forced her to keep an old-school scrapbook of everything we’ve done, with brochures, wrappers, maps and coins, so it’s a bit educational.” Last year was especially busy for Keisha, who spent much of 2015 in Spain and Northern Ireland, starring as warrior Obara Sand in cult fantasy series Game of Thrones. She reveals, “I was terrified on my first day on set because it’s a beast of a production, with a bigger crew than I’ve ever worked with. I walked on to set with the girls who play my sisters and we were just holding each other, shaking and going, ‘What the hell is going on? How did we get here?’
“Also, I’m quite lazy and not naturally athletic, so because we were training in the martial art of wushu and wearing leather armour in the middle of summer, it was the first job where I had to watch what I ate and get my body really fit. “We were filming in Spain and all I wanted to do was eat tapas and drink sangria, but I couldn’t. I just had to eat chicken and brown rice – whoopee! It was awfully difficult. When I came home, I ate so much food, it was disgusting. My body changed a bit and I was like, ‘Am I becoming a woman? No, Keisha, you’re becoming a pig!’”
Bring on the roses and romance! Our Game of Thrones beauty is ready for her real-life fantasy to come true. “Let’s make it happen,” she smiles.
Keeping it Kiwi
Although she’s stoked to have landed roles in the upcoming US series Roadies – she plays a “punk-funk lesbian with blue and red hair” – and in the movie Thank You for Your Service, Keisha is even more thrilled to be taking on a couple of projects here in NZ, where she’s working with Kiwi entertainer and artist Mika Haka, a longtime friend,to produce a web series and a feature film, as well as record its soundtrack.
“I have been consciously trying to break into producing for a few years,” she explains, “because while I love acting, I’m a little bit over just being a tool in someone else’s storytelling process, with other people writing my words for me, putting my clothes on me and lighting me up. My urge is to tell the stories I want to see. “Producing is really liberating because it’s practical work. I’m always on the phone, talking about someone with an idea, finding the right people to get that idea moving and figuring out how much it’s going to cost. It’s exciting watching the cogs fit into place behind the scenes.”
However, her favourite part is being back with her whanau in Aotearoa. A huge smile spreading across her face, Keisha says, “The cool thing about the work I’m doing is that it allows me more time to spend at home, which is where I want to be. This is the best place in the world, with the best people too.
“We’ve been swimming at the beach, camping in the Coromandel and just chilling. I can’t wait to tell the girls on Game of Thrones. They’re always telling me to shut up because I can’t stop raving about how beautiful it is, how nice everyone is and how good the food is. We are so lucky!”
Since their fairtyale wedding in 2013 – “the greatest party ever” – Keisha and Jono have spent a chunk of their marriage apart.
